Marking machine



Sept. 25, 1934.

S. R. SWENSQN MARKING MACHINE Filed March 14. 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1

Sept. 25, 1934. s. R. SWENSON 1,974,521

MARKING MACHINE} Filed March 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 25, 1934 N ED STA '*JPAT;E?NT

MARKING MAGHINE Samuel R. Swenson, Chicago, "Ill. 1 Applioation;Marchi14, 19,32,*Serial *No. 598,611

" -.7-Claims. worm-"39) This invention relates" to improvements in marking machines.

One object of the-inventioni-s to provide-a machine of sturdykbut simple, construction which requires but little power for operation and into which golf balls or otherarticles'tobe marked. can readily be inserted; and the necessary adjustmentsconvenientlymade for printing thereon a name; legendor the like.

Another object of the-invention relates "to the provision of means for effecting the ready adjustment of the object *tobe marked to the proper printing position; the adjusting means'servingto hold said object-positively'in such adjusted position.

further object of thefinventionrelates tothe construction of the die holder or carriage which is self-inking and which, while it ispositively actuated by'feed mechanism during operation, can befreely withdrawn from'the'machine for resetting the type'or dies.

Other objects :of the inventiontrelate"tovarious features of construction and arrangement 10 parts,'which will be apparent'from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings wherein "Fig. l is a'frontelevation of a marking device embodying the present improvements and designed particularly for golf balls.

Fig. 2'is an'end elevation thereof.

Fig.3 is a sectional view taken .on line"3-'3 of Fig. '2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on line '44 of Fig. 3.

Fig.5 is abroken view of two members,.constituting the type or die holder, said members being shown n detached relation.

Fig. 6 illustrates a .golfball with the'name printed thereon and one of the supporting rollers shown diagrammatically. I

In the drawings, 10.is thebase of the supporting structure which preferably-is acasting and has an upwardly extending rear web or.back"11, the upper end of which comprises a'housing '12. In the upper portion of the housing isjournaled a shaft 13, having a hand wheel '14.on its outer end. "The inner end of the shaft .l3 ,carries.a pinion 15. which mesheswith'the rack formed on, the upper ,horizontalside of the reciprocal die holder or carrier, which is indicated generally .by the numeral 16. The holder 16 is shown as being slidable in aihorizontalpa'ssage 12-a formed'in the housing 12. Theholder ispreferablyforme'd in two parts, l7 and 18, as illustrated in Fig.5. Member 17. has a rack, 19,.alongitsnpperside, and isprovided with spacing members 17-11 at the ends of itsjforwardface. ..The spacesatlthe forward'side .between the members .1'7.a constitutes the die or type holding chamber.20. The complemental member 18,; is provided with a flange 2l, which seats on the' upp'er ends 22 of the spacingmembers 17 a. The flang'e21 forms-a, bearing surfaceior the upper partcf the holder and. 'consequently preferably extends slightly above the upper surface of the rack"19.-'-The vertical flange of themember 18 isprovided with aslot 23 for facilitating'cleaning and inspection of the dieortyp'e holding chamber. As-shown in Figu're 4; the upper horizontal wall of the opening or slot 23 is' formed at a slight elevation above the lower face'of-the flange 21, whereby the inspection of themontat of the 'dies with 'the flange is "facilitated; The members 1-! and 1 r8 may be riveted or otherwise suitably secured together'in the relation described, wherein therecess or thechamber 20' is opened atthe bottom forreceiving the dies ortype which are clamped in position'thereinby thumb screw 24,- threaded in the oneendof the member 17. Spacing blocks or'slugs '25may be in'serted between the type or dies'26-andthe-inner end of theclamping screw 24to-compensate for-names or legends of differentlengths. I

Asshrownin Figure 3,the' ends of the-dies-or type'26 upon-which theprinting characters or letters areformed project from'the chamber of the holder 16-into aplane substantially tangent to the upper surface of the inking'rolle'r 2'7,

whichis journalled inahousing 28 which maybe integralwith the'frame of the device. Asthe holder-1'6 is moved to the right'as viewed in'Figure' 3, the characters of the dies contactwith the rollerr2'7 and;aresuitably-inked. e g

The-article'tobe marked; such as a golf ball 29, is placed on two rollers 30, "31. Roller 30 is mounted-one,- short shaft 32journall'ed'inflthe side wallsof the recess 33 which is formed in the upper portion ofthebase 10. Roller 31 is mounted on a shaft 34' secured to two arms of a'yokelike member 35-which-is-slidable in the recess 33 by means of a-Screw-Bfijhavinga knurled operating nut 3'7- at its outer end. The yoke and the roller 31 can be .moved back and forth I by means of: a screw which isthreadedzinsthe end of the yoke; When the rolleris moved tozthe-left, as viewed in Figure 3,;a:.ba1l 29, resting on'the two rollers, can bemovedzwith precision to the proper velevationwith respect-to-the.printingdies 26 When the handlelA- is rotated,.the.pinion 15 will move the holder .16 horizontally and .the dies will sucessively engagethe surface of the ball which rotates. upon the rollers 30 and...3l. That: is. the rotatable. rollers which are shown in the form of spools holdthe ball from advancing laterallybut permit it to rotateupon a horizontal axis when engaged by the moving dies whereby successive portions of the'ball are brought into contact with succes sive. dies or type and the. letters oi the' name'thus' is owned by a golf club, since each member may have a cast slug bearing his name and thus can ends so spaced apart by the intermediate cylindrical portions that the pressure of the die upon the ball will cause the latter to contact with and receive additional support by said cylindrical portions. The ball will thus have six'points of contact with the supporting rollers and will be held firmly, but rotatably, in printing position.

In Figure 6 this relation of the rollers to the ball;

is illustrated diagrammatically.

The holder 16 can be removed freely from either end of the guiding passage 12-a, in which it is shown in Figure 1. This passage is partially closed on the forward side, as shown in Figure 1, by a removable plate 38. During the reciprocating movements of the holder 16, the upper face of flange 21 being slightly above the level of the rack will prevent the teeth of the rack from contacting with the upper wall 12-1) of the passage 12-11. The holder is supported by, and slides upon, the lower wall 12-0. A small plate 39 forms acover for the end of the chamber in which the inking roll 27 is positioned, the plate being supported by the shaft 46 on which the roller is rotatably mounted. The base 10 of the machine has a horizontal chamber in which a drawer 41, for extra dies or type, is provided.

In use, the nut 37 is operated to retract the yoke 35 and roller 31 sufliciently to enable the ball 29 to be placed in positionfrom the front of the machine. The nut 37 is then operated to move the roller 31 to the left, as viewed in Figure 3, to elevate the ball to the proper height, as above mentioned- The hand wheel is turned to advance or to'reciprocate the holder or carrier 16, to move the dies or type 26 into contact with the ball. The roller 2'? inks the type on each movement of the same thereover. To reset the type. in. the holder 16, the latter is pulled from either end of the housing. The clamping nut-24l is loosened and the type and spacing slugs removed through the bottom opening in the holder, and the new type inserted. Instead of using individual type for each letter, it will be obvious that a linotype slug, having a name cast thereon, may be used. This arrangementis convenient where a machine readily mark his new balls. -The same practice can be followed by sporting goodsstores, that is, they may have slugs made for their regular customers and mark therewith all the balls purchased by such customers.

While I have shown and described agolf ball marking machine embodying my improvements, it will be obvious that other objects may be marked as well, and that various detailed changes may be made in the structure without departing from the scope of my improvements. The terms top, bottom, horizontal and similar terms used in the specification, are employed in. a descriptive sense for the purpose of simplifying the fore, I do not wish to be restricted to specific dedescription, and not in a limiting sense, as the relative arrangement of many of the parts maybe changed, as circumstances mayrequire. Theretails of construction and relative arrangement of parts, except as required by the prior art.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described c'omprising "i a rotary support for an article, a slidable rack member for holding dies in a plane tangent to said article, and a pinion meshing withsaid rack member for moving said dies in succession into contact with said article as the latter is rotated.

on said support by contact with said dies.

2. A device of the class described comprising a frame, a rotary support in the lower portion thereof, said frame having a passage above said support, a slidable rack member inssaid passage for holding dies in a plane tangent to an article on said support, and a pinion meshing with said rack member for actuating the same in said passage for moving said dies in succession into con tact with said article as the latter is rotated on said support by contact with said dies.

v3. A device of the class described comprising a frame having a shaft mounted in a fixed portion thereof, a roller on said shaft, a second roller coacting with said first roller to form a support for an article, printing means spaced from said threaded screw for moving said roller toward or from said first roller.

4. A printing device for golf balls comprising a frame having a guide passage therethrough, a die holder reciprocal within said passage, the upper surface of said holder comprising a rack, a manually operable pinion journalled in said frame and adapted to engage said rack for re ciprocating said holder, said holder having a slot in thelower surface through which said dies project, and means for rotatably supporting a ball in printing position with respect to said dies as said holder is reciprocated.

5. A golf ball marking device comprising a base having a recess in the upper surfacethereof, a pair of ball supporting rollers in said recess, a slide in said recess on which one of said rollers is mounted, means on the exterior of said base for adjusting said slide and roller relatively to said other roller for vertically adjusting .a ball resting on said rollers, a housing above said base' having a horizontal passage extending throughout, a die carriage slidable within said passage and adapted to carry die member with the character ends of the same projecting downwardly into contact with a ball on said rollers, said carriage having a rack on a surface thereof, and a manually operable pinion journalled in said housing for engaging said rack for reciprocating said carriage.

6. A golf ball marking machine comprising a supporting structure, an adjustable anti-frictionsupport for a ball within said structure, said structure having a horizontal passage in the upper portion thereof for receiving a reciprocal die carriage, said carriage comprising a pair of coacting plates spaced apart intermediate the the lower side thereof and the upper side of said 7 other plate constituting bearing faces for said carriage, and a manually operable pinion in said supporting structure engaging saidrack for actuating said carriage within said passage.

7. A printing device for golf balls comprising a standard having a base, a side flange, and a top portion secured to said flange and overhanging said base, means on said base for rotatably supporting a ball, a reciprocable die holdercarried by said top portion, means for actuating said holder for moving the dies in succession into contact with the top of a ball on said support and a device below the path of travel of said diej holder for inking said dies during the reciprocation of said holder. j i

' SAMUEL R. SWENSON. 

